America COMPETES Act: Programs, Funding, and Selected Issues
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America COMPETES Act: Programs, Funding, and Selected Issues Deborah D. Stine Specialist in Science and Technology Policy April 17, 2009 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RL34328 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Form Approved Report Documentation Page OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to a penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. 1. REPORT DATE 3. DATES COVERED 2. REPORT TYPE 17 APR 2009 00-00-2009 to 00-00-2009 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER America COMPETES Act: Programs, Funding, and Selected Issues 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION Congressional Research Service,Library of Congress,101 Independence REPORT NUMBER Ave, SE,Washington,DC,20540-7500 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S ACRONYM(S) 11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT NUMBER(S) 12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release; distribution unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT 15. SUBJECT TERMS 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF 18. NUMBER 19a. NAME OF ABSTRACT OF PAGES RESPONSIBLE PERSON a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE Same as 70 unclassified unclassified unclassified Report (SAR) Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18 America COMPETES Act: Programs, Funding, and Selected Issues Summary The America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69) became law on August 9, 2007. The act responds to concerns that the United States may not be able to compete economically with other nations in the future due to insufficient investment today in science and technology research and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce development. The America COMPETES Act is intended to increase the nation’s investment in science and engineering research and in STEM education from kindergarten to graduate school and postdoctoral education. It is designed to focus on two perceived concerns believed to influence future U.S. competitiveness: inadequate research and development funding to generate sufficient technological progress, and inadequate numbers of American students proficient in science and mathematics or interested in science and engineering careers relative to international competitors. The act authorizes funding increases for the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) laboratories, and the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science over FY2008-FY2010. If maintained, the increases would double the budgets of those entities over seven years. The act establishes the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) within DOE, designed to support transformational energy technology research projects with the goal of enhancing U.S. economic and energy security. A new program, Discovery Science and Engineering Innovation Institutes, would establish multidisciplinary institutes at DOE National Laboratories to “apply fundamental science and engineering discoveries to technological innovations,” according to the act. Among the act’s education activities, many of which are focused on high-need school districts, are programs to recruit new K-12 STEM teachers, enhance existing STEM teacher skills, and provide more STEM education opportunities for students. The new Department of Education (ED) Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow and existing NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship programs provide opportunities, through institutional grants, for students pursuing STEM degrees and STEM professionals to gain teaching skills and teacher certification, and for current STEM teachers to enhance their teaching skills and understanding of STEM content. The act also authorizes a new program at NSF that would provide grants to create or improve professional science master’s degree (PSM) programs that emphasize practical training and preparation for the workforce in high-need fields. The America COMPETES Act is an authorization act. New programs established by the act will not be initiated and authorized increases in appropriations for existing programs will not occur unless funded through subsequent appropriation acts. The 110th Congress provided FY2008 appropriations to establish ED’s Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow program, and NIST’s Technology Improvement Program (TIP), which replaced the existing Advanced Technology Program. The 111th Congress provided FY2009 appropriations to establish DOE’s ARPA-E and NSF’s PSM program. Although some America COMPETES Act research and STEM education programs received appropriations at or above authorized levels in FY2009, others did not. As Congress deliberates the FY2010 budget, an issue for Congress is what level, if any, will it provide America COMPETES Act programs an appropriation, and whether or not the President’s budget request will propose to do so. Several programs newly authorized in the act have never been appropriated funds. An issue for these programs is whether or not they will receive the funding necessary to establish them. The America COMPETES Act provides authorization levels only through FY2010. Congressional Research Service America COMPETES Act: Programs, Funding, and Selected Issues Contents Overview of America COMPETES Act.......................................................................................1 Overview of U.S. Competitiveness Initiatives..............................................................................2 Issues for Congress .....................................................................................................................5 Perspectives on the Definition of Competitiveness ................................................................6 Trade Balance .................................................................................................................6 Foreign Direct Investment...............................................................................................7 Workforce and Wages .....................................................................................................8 Competitiveness in Perspective .....................................................................................12 General Issues.....................................................................................................................12 American Competitiveness Initiative...................................................................................15 Science and Engineering Research ......................................................................................15 Research Funding .........................................................................................................16 NASA Funding .............................................................................................................17 High-Risk, High-Reward Research................................................................................18 Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.................................................................19 Discovery Science and Engineering Innovation Institutes ..............................................21 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education.............................21 Department of Energy...................................................................................................23 National Science Foundation.........................................................................................24 Department of Education...............................................................................................26 Office of Science and Technology Policy ............................................................................26 Bush Administration .....................................................................................................27 Obama Administration ..................................................................................................28 Appropriations Status................................................................................................................29 Programs Funded at Authorized Levels ...............................................................................37 Programs Presumably Not Funded ......................................................................................37 Evaluation of the America COMPETES Act..............................................................................38 Evaluation Mechanisms Within the America COMPETES Act ............................................40 Evaluation Mechanisms Beyond Those in the America COMPETES Act.............................41 Outcomes......................................................................................................................41